There’s a lot of terrific music being made right now that makes use of loops as raw material in one form or another. This type of production technique has been in development ever since recording tape became common and the adventurous musicians of yesteryear began arranging those ribbons of tape into loops. This article will focus on software tools that can be used with a Mac, Windows or iOS device in order to transform it into a powerful loop-based production environment that can be fine tuned for live performance use. These live looping tools allow for many possible performance applications; one popular style that’s developed recently is a sophisticated “one man band” situation where a single performer (or small group) can create live music on the fly that features each performer playing multiple instruments. There seems to be a large and growing community of people working on this particular approach to composition and live performance.
The ability to record and play back a loop on the fly is a capability that each of these tools will provide, and there are various forms of live looping performance that require this indispensable toolset. Some live looping tools also provide sound-on-sound overdub recording and/or multiple tracks for recording multiple loops. Most devices will also provide some form of synchronization in terms of loop length and record & playback start/stop quantization. With proper use, these synchronization tools can assist musicians in making music that features tightly connected rhythmic relationships across multiple loops.
I absolutely adore working with loops — here are a couple of examples of loop-based music that I’ve personally worked on. Hopefully this will give you some idea of what’s possible when working with loops. In this first example, I was one member of an ensemble of eight musicians performing live using Ableton Live’s built-in loop playback capabilities in the Session View. Each performer freely triggered playback and stopped playback of a large series of pre-prepared (mostly short) MIDI and audio loops cut to various lengths. The loops were arranged into a pre-planned sequence, but the timing and timbre of each loop was improvised. Each loop start/stop point was quantized to a ⅛ note value at a BPM of 85. There was some additional live mixing, timbre shaping and some acoustic instrumentation thrown in there too. This was all done according to the instructions found within a particular musical score: the now-classic 1964 composition written by American composer Terry Riley called
Boomerang E 156 Iii Phrase Sampler Looper Guitar Pedal
I’ve also produced a recording that made prominent use one of the looper plugins listed below: Ableton’s “Looper.” Here again, I use pre-prepared clips — but this time they were arranged along the DAW’s linear timeline and then fed into Looper. In this case the material was drawn from flugelhorn recordings I made according to the instructions contained in Terry Riley’s 1964-1965 score Dorian Reeds. This recording is an example of what looping with sound-on-sound overdubbing can sound like. A loop of five beats long is the basis for what’s going on here. The live signal gets recorded by Looper, and five beats later it’s played back alongside the live sound. The live sound is still being recorded, but now that recording becomes embedded into the existing loop recording. This process continues over many generations, resulting in many layers being heard simultaneously. In this recording, the older loop recordings gradually fade away, as made possible by the feedback parameter (see below).
Sound-on-sound overdubbing was the first form of recording that allowed musicians to work directly with previously recorded audio while simultaneously recording new material. There were various tape experiments before this development, but this particular tape recording technique was especially revolutionary. If you’re not familiar with the history behind this major development, I recommend spending some time learning about Les Paul’s contributions to this remarkable invention. Sound-on-sound overdubbing (which, by its very nature, presents the practitioner with some pretty severe challenges, as there was no way to correct a mistake once recorded) was soon transformed into the multitrack recording technology we now use today. But along the way, Paul used his invention to reel off a string of massive hits during the 1950s — his ability to record overdubs while nobody else could was quite an advantage at the time.
The examples above are admittedly pretty far out in left field — which is exactly how I personally like it. But here are some additional ideas for looper setups that might be useful in your particular situation:
Guitar Rig 5
In an effort to make looping controls as simple and playable as possible, most loopers (hardware or software) will implement a single button that will offer control over record, play, overdub and stop commands. Learning exactly how this is implemented on your device is going to be the first and arguably most important step in your looping journey. For example, in Ableton’s Looper plugin, the main transport controls are located on a single button that can be operated with a mouse or with a MIDI controller. It enters record mode on the first click. If clicked again during recording, Looper will either begin playback or it will begin a sound-on-sound overdub, depending on your settings. A double click will stop all playback. Helpfully, Looper even offers the ability to undo the last record — this is accessed by holding the transport button down for two seconds. Not every looper will behave this way, but chances are good that you’ll want to have access to all of this functionality, so I advise you to take the time to learn all of the details about your own looper’s transport controls.
If you choose to work with sound-on-sound overdubbing while working with a looper device, the feedback control is tremendously important. It controls the level at which the recorded loop is fed back into the looper’s input. Just like on a standard delay effect, the feedback will ultimately control how many times one recording will be repeated during playback. At levels less than 100%, the older loops will progressively fade away. This feedback technique was an essential ingredient in some of the most psychedelic-sounding classics of the 60s and 70s, including works by groundbreaking American composer Terry Riley and the influential British duo Robert Fripp and Brian Eno.
One of the major advantages a computer offers to musicians working with loops is that the practice can be integrated into your DAW, and most looper software can use your DAW’s transport controls and tempo data to record loops that are cut to precise lengths in terms of musical bars and beats. Most looper devices can start recording and playback synced to the DAW’s transport, allowing live performers to monitor the DAW’s metronome for tempo reference. This type of synchronization can usually be turned off if you want to experiment with looping the way that musicians from past generations experienced it — mimicking the situation where a tape loop was strung across two separate tape machines, one set to record the live signal and the second, a distance away, set to play it back. But be warned: in this situation it’s incredibly challenging to maintain any tightly integrated rhythmic material due to the imprecise nature of the loop length, so this old-fashioned mode might be better suited to beatless genres such as ambient or drone.
Looping Software: The Best Looping Tools To Create Awesome Music
Many looping setups, especially in a computer environment, will support the recording of multiple independent loops — including audio and MIDI. Exactly how this is implemented varies quite a bit from tool to tool. In some cases, a looper plugin might offer multiple inputs, with each feeding a separate loop recorder. This is nice because everything needed for performance can usually be contained in one window. In other situations, you might be using a DAW or DAW-like application that simply offers controls for spontaneous loop recording and playback on each track. True multitrack loopers will be a bit more time consuming to set up properly, as the various physical inputs must be properly routed to the software inputs for the system to work correctly.
Whatever the scenario, multitrack looping is a great tool for solo musicians or small ensembles to use when building up an arrangement that can consist of potentially many different instruments. These instruments don’t need to be played live simultaneously to be heard in concert by the audience, because the recorded loops can just play back indefinitely.
Some loopers offer some nifty extras. For example, you may be able to alter the playback speed of the loop on the fly, or some loopers will allow you to process the loop audio independently from the live signal and vice versa. It’s important to consider what features you need now alongside what you’re likely to need in the future when comparing the various looping tools on the market.
Audio Blast Releases Free Insta Looper Vst Plugin
Clearly, computer-based looping offers many potential advantages that a run-of-the-mill guitar looper pedal can’t. That being said, there is one potentially devastating drawback: latency. Inherent in all computer audio systems, latency is a time delay that happens between the time you record a sound or send a
Many looping setups, especially in a computer environment, will support the recording of multiple independent loops — including audio and MIDI. Exactly how this is implemented varies quite a bit from tool to tool. In some cases, a looper plugin might offer multiple inputs, with each feeding a separate loop recorder. This is nice because everything needed for performance can usually be contained in one window. In other situations, you might be using a DAW or DAW-like application that simply offers controls for spontaneous loop recording and playback on each track. True multitrack loopers will be a bit more time consuming to set up properly, as the various physical inputs must be properly routed to the software inputs for the system to work correctly.
Whatever the scenario, multitrack looping is a great tool for solo musicians or small ensembles to use when building up an arrangement that can consist of potentially many different instruments. These instruments don’t need to be played live simultaneously to be heard in concert by the audience, because the recorded loops can just play back indefinitely.
Some loopers offer some nifty extras. For example, you may be able to alter the playback speed of the loop on the fly, or some loopers will allow you to process the loop audio independently from the live signal and vice versa. It’s important to consider what features you need now alongside what you’re likely to need in the future when comparing the various looping tools on the market.
Audio Blast Releases Free Insta Looper Vst Plugin
Clearly, computer-based looping offers many potential advantages that a run-of-the-mill guitar looper pedal can’t. That being said, there is one potentially devastating drawback: latency. Inherent in all computer audio systems, latency is a time delay that happens between the time you record a sound or send a
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